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Citation
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Judgment date
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| April 2016 |
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Applicant granted interim interdict preventing police seizure of vehicle pending ownership determination.
Civil procedure – urgent interim interdict; property and possession dispute; police seizure of potential exhibit; balance of probabilities for interim relief.
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29 April 2016 |
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Court ordered equal 50:50 division of the matrimonial home, custody to the applicant and limited maintenance by the respondent.
Matrimonial property – Division and apportionment under s 7 Matrimonial Causes Act – Recognition of direct and indirect contributions (homemaking and childcare) – 50:50 division ordered – Custody and access – Maintenance obligations, valuation and buy-out procedure.
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28 April 2016 |
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A trustee cannot avoid execution by denying legal personality where it acted as owner and employer; attached property executable.
Execution and attachment – school trading name and legal personality – owner and employer status – alter ego/approbation and reprobation – executability of attached assets – costs on higher scale.
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28 April 2016 |
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Written tenancy letter constituted the lease; tenant liable for arrears and holding-over despite municipal licence issues.
Lease — written tenancy letter — landlord’s duty to deliver premises fit for purpose — municipal licensing requirements — tenant’s withholding of rent — holding-over damages — cancellation and ejectment — counterclaim for loss of profits dismissed.
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27 April 2016 |
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Plaintiff's speculative, non-expert evidence failed to prove negligence causing the fire; absolution granted and costs awarded.
Delict/negligence — cause of fire; need for expert evidence to establish causation; res ipsa loquitur not applicable; absolution from the instance; failure to prove prima facie case.
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27 April 2016 |
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A Labour Court order setting aside the foundational arbitral award precluded registration of a subsequent related award.
Arbitration — registration of arbitral award — High Court’s role limited to registrability — effect of Labour Court order setting aside earlier award — Rule 229C — Article 34 (setting aside and public policy).
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27 April 2016 |
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Mandament van spolie denied where applicant surrendered vehicles, delay suggested acquiescence, and dispute was contractual.
Spoliation (mandament van spolie) — possession and unlawful deprivation — surrender/indemnity form — acquiescence through delay — employment/contractual dispute — alternative remedies.
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27 April 2016 |
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Sale disguised as lease was illegal; defendant entitled to remain pending payment for improvements and statutory protections barred eviction.
Property law – sham transaction: sale disguised as lease to avoid s 39 subdivision-permit requirement – illegality (s 39 RTCP Act) – ex turpi causa bars enforcement; commercial rent regulations (s 22 SI 676/1983) – statutory tenant protection; improvement lien and unjust enrichment; in pari delicto considered.
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27 April 2016 |
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Applicants failed to prove wilful breach of a consent order; generator delivery constituted a new cause of action, not contempt.
Contempt of court — consent order — sealing of entrance and cessation of building operations — requisites of contempt (order; service; non-compliance; wilfulness and mala fides) — evidential burden and standard of proof — new cause of action vs ongoing breach — regularisation under s27 Regional Town and Country Planning Act.
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27 April 2016 |
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Applicant failed to prove extraordinary hardship or make a reasonable, bona fide offer; application dismissed with attorney–client costs.
Execution — attachment of dwelling; Order 40 r 348A(5a) and (5e) — interpretation of conjunctive "and"; requirement to show great hardship plus one of subrule (5e)(b) grounds; reasonableness and bona fides of settlement offers; abuse of process; attorney–client costs.
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27 April 2016 |
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Sentence for intercourse with a 14‑year‑old was manifestly lenient; review withheld certificate for inadequate deterrence and public interest consideration.
Criminal law — Sexual intercourse with young person — Sentencing — Application of Beadle guide and Zinn triad — Public interest and deterrence — Manifestly and shockingly lenient sentence — Review by withholding certificate.
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27 April 2016 |
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Fixed-term contracts ended; former employees unlawfully occupied employer premises—court ordered interim removal and restraint.
Employment law – fixed-term contract – effluxion of time – tacit renewal by conduct – employer not obliged to provide actual work – unlawful self-help by former employees – interim possession/eviction relief.
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27 April 2016 |
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Applicant’s contractual right of first refusal is valid; sale and transfer to a third party interdicted pending its proper exercise.
Property law – Right of first refusal/pre-emption – Interpretation and enforcement of contractual clause providing negotiated price or valuer-determined market price; requirement of full disclosure and honest dealing; interim interdict to prevent transfer pending exercise of pre-emptive right; credibility of affidavits and consequences of falsehoods.
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27 April 2016 |
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Application to be excused from pro deo appointment dismissed for failure to prove unfair or defective allocation system.
Criminal procedure – pro deo appointments – allocation of pro deo counsel – registry allocation system – judicial notice of administrative practice – insufficiency of founding affidavit to establish unfair or discriminatory appointment.
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20 April 2016 |
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Senior bank employee had implied and ostensible authority; bank liable on guarantees despite alleged unproven fraud.
Bank guarantees – actual, implied and ostensible authority of senior employee – reliance on façade of regularity – statutory corporation’s enabling Act and delegation – insufficiency of unproven fraud allegations to defeat third-party reliance.
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15 April 2016 |
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Delay in seeking urgent stay rendered application non-urgent; verbal sub-tenancy undermined prospects of success.
Civil procedure – Urgency – Certificate of urgency – Delay and negligent abstention to act – Kuvarega principle; Stay of execution – rescission pending – prima facie prospects – verbal sub-tenancy where head lease prohibits sub-letting.
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13 April 2016 |
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Plaintiff lacked standing and failed to prove loss; absolution from the instance granted with costs.
Civil procedure – Absolution from the instance – Locus standi – Separate juristic personality of a company – Proof of damages – Plaintiff failed to establish loss; absolution granted.
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13 April 2016 |
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Absolution granted where plaintiff failed to prove a concluded, non‑vague agreement and sued incorrect parties.
Contract formation — vagueness and lack of ad idem; unsigned/subject-to-negotiation agreement; failure to join correct payor; absolution from the instance for want of evidence.
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13 April 2016 |
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Applicants despoiled of specified mining claims entitled to interim restoration of possession despite defective urgency certificate.
Contract mining agreement – scope of agreement – claims in Appendix I – whether Tolrose Mine covered; Spoliation – restoration of possession – interim relief; Urgent procedure – defective certificate of urgency and court’s discretion to hear merits despite non-compliance; Procedural objections – in limine points versus merits of the case; Enforcement – Sheriff empowered to enlist police assistance.
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7 April 2016 |
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Court reduced excessive cumulative stock-theft sentences, affirming concurrent sentencing under s343 and substituting shorter effective terms.
Criminal law — Stock theft — Mandatory minimum sentences under s114(2)(e) — Concurrent versus consecutive sentences — s343 Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act — Sentencing discretion — Excessive cumulative sentences set aside on review and substituted.
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7 April 2016 |
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Circumstantial evidence established the accused’s guilt for murder with constructive intent; life imprisonment imposed.
Criminal law – Murder – Circumstantial evidence – Self‑defence – Theft after killing – State summary under s 66(6) – Warned and cautioned statement not relied upon – Sentence: life imprisonment.
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7 April 2016 |
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First accused convicted of culpable homicide for negligently assaulting and failing to seek treatment for deceased; second accused acquitted.
Criminal law – Murder v culpable homicide – constructive intent and foreseeability – negligence in assault and failure to seek medical attention – evidentiary weight of external post‑mortem – acquittal where accused’s story is reasonably possibly true.
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7 April 2016 |
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A sheriff cannot sell a whole indivisible co-owned property when a writ directs attachment of only the judgment debtor's undivided half.
Co-ownership; execution of judgment against undivided share; sheriff exceeding writ; protection of co-owner's real rights; incompetence of writ attaching an undivided half in indivisible property; s71(3) Constitution - protection from compulsory deprivation.
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6 April 2016 |
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Court refused to set aside arbitral award, finding no public-policy breach or procedural unfairness by the arbitrator.
Arbitration — setting aside award — public policy — palpable inequity standard — breach of natural justice — limited judicial review under Model Law — factual findings of delay and failure to lodge bill of entry — contributory negligence not amounting to public policy breach.
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6 April 2016 |
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Court stayed execution and restored possession due to unaddressed procedural defects, unregistered award, and unexplained settlement.
Civil procedure – Urgent application – Execution of arbitral award – Requirement to register award with Magistrate’s Court before execution – Existence and effect of prior certificate of settlement – Validity and acceptance of bond of security – Interim relief to preserve status quo.
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6 April 2016 |
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Applicants failed to prove an agreement to suspend execution; stay refused and costs awarded against applicants.
Civil procedure — Stay of execution — Onus on applicant to show special circumstances — Deed of settlement — Clause making whole debt due on breach — Alleged agreement to suspend execution — Attachment and removal of goods.
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6 April 2016 |
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Court refused to set aside arbitration award, holding turnover rent included pies manufactured at leased premises and distributed to applicant’s branches.
Arbitration — setting aside award — public policy — interpretation of lease terms — turnover rent including goods manufactured on leased premises and distributed to related branches; piecemeal arbitration; Article 34 Arbitration Act; ZESA v Maphosa standard.
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6 April 2016 |
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Applicants failed to show urgency or irreparable harm for immediate release of impounded vehicles; matter struck off urgent roll.
Civil procedure — Urgent applications — Whether requirements of urgency and irreparable harm satisfied in applications for release of impounded vehicles; Police powers — Impoundment for verification under anti-‘mushika-shika’ operation; Distinction from cases where clearance documents are produced.
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6 April 2016 |
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Urgent relief to prevent eviction struck off for lack of urgency and failure to exhaust internal remedies.
Urgent application — urgency threshold — exhaustion of internal remedies — police administrative transfers and accommodation — interdictory relief — admissibility of affidavits.
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6 April 2016 |
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Court withheld sentence confirmation, finding the accused's impersonation-based extortion sentence manifestly too lenient.
Criminal law – Extortion – Impersonation of senior state officials – Threats of violence – Planned, repeated modus operandi – Sentencing – Review – Withholding certificate of confirmation for unduly lenient sentence.
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6 April 2016 |
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Possession and sale of the victim’s phone shortly after the attack supported a circumstantial inference of murder during robbery.
Criminal law – Murder – Circumstantial evidence – Possession of victim’s property shortly after attack as strong inference of guilt – Alibi – credibility of purchasers – Murder in process of robbery (s 47(1)(b)).
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6 April 2016 |
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Urgent application to compel immigration to legalise an alleged marriage dismissed for lack of evidence and procedural non-compliance.
Immigration law – visitor status and residence permits; urgent chamber applications – compliance with rule 244 and certificate of urgency; evidentiary sufficiency – contradiction by official documents; distinguishability of precedent.
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1 April 2016 |